Spring 2010 - Master Gardeners of Ontario

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Page 2 Victoria Day continued from Page 1 Onions and garlic are a special case. They need cool weather to produce the foliage which will provide the energy for the bulbs that start forming when day length begins to shorten in late June. Garlic is very hardy and I plant it in late October for the next year’s crop. Frosthardy vegetables such as lettuce, onions, peas and spinach can be planted outdoors as soon as the ground can be worked, often the first week of April in Ottawa. Semifrosthardy vegetables such as beets, carrots, chard and potatoes are best planted in late April or early May as they germinate slowly in cold soil. So what happens if the weather turns really nasty? One year I had peas that were about 10 cm high when we had a late snowfall of 20 cm. Once the snow was melted the peas were still growing with no problem. I have had potato foliage frozen to ground level – it didn’t take them long to spring back with fresh growth from the roots. Onions and spinach take frost in their stride. Some gardeners try to get a head start on the season with relatively tender plants such as tomatoes. While gardening is not a competitive sport, there are those who take a certain amount of pride in having the first juicy red tomato on the block. I may plant a few tomatoes two or three weeks before Victoria Day but I spread my risks by planting the main crop when it is warmer. Raised beds and well drained soil assist an early start by warming up much faster. In order to determine if soil is workable, take a handful and squeeze – if it stays together in a ball it is still too wet, if it crumbles it is ready. Time to get out and get planting! President: James Lee – president@mgoi.ca Treasurer: Wendy Fletcher – treasurer@mgoi.ca Corporate Secretary: Linda Hugli – secretary@mgoi.ca Directors: Zone 1: Ralph Bullough – zone1@mgoi.ca Zone 2: Linda Hugli – zone2@mgoi.ca Zone 3: vacant Zone 4: Ann Ironside zone4@mgoi.ca Zone 5: June Streadwick – zone5@mgoi.ca MGOI Board of Directors Master Gardeners of Ontario Spring 2010 No Dig Vegetables Editors Digging a garden every year, is not practiced by all vegetable gardeners. Growing numbers employ “no dig” methods. In the 70’s Ruth Stout wrote articles about growing vegetables under a thick layer of straw. She never dug, watered or used harsh chemicals. She just planted and picked. There is a UTube video about her which you should watch because it’s a hoot. A more recent proponent, Patricia Lanza in her books on “lasagna gardening” recommends layering various types of organic matter in raised beds. She suggests growing vegetables year after year, never digging or walking on the beds and adding new organic matter to the top. Permaculture enthusiasts use similar techniques. Mel Bartholomew in his popular square foot gardening books even recommends ignoring the native soil and planting in his growing medium in raised beds above the soil. These no dig methods promise high yields, less work, and natural management of insects and diseases. Net Resouces Editors The net is full of great sources of vegetable gardening information. It is also full of information which is not very useful so some patience is needed while looking. Videos are available for those with a high speed connection. For example, the Royal Horticultural Society of the UK has a number of good videos on vegetables. Alan Titmarsh has also created a number of videos for the BBC on gardening. Garden Girl also has useful videos. The Peterborough Group has a number of basic fact sheets on vegetable growing on their website. Zone 6: Valerie Liney – zone6@mgoi.ca Zone 7: Jeanne Stoness – zone7@mgoi.ca Zone 8: Kelly Noel – zone8@mgoi.ca Zone 9: Don Nicholson – zone9@mgoi.ca Zone 10: Vacant Zone 11: John Craw zone11@mgoi.ca Newsletter: Dianne & Gary Westlake – editors@mgoi.ca MG Listserve: Kelly Noel – listcoordinator@mgoi.ca OMAFRA Representative: Helen Scutt – omafra@mgoi.ca Provincial Administrator:Charlotte Vorstermans – info@mgoi.ca 113 Mill Street, Creemore, ON L0M 1G0 Director at Large: Charlie Dobbin – charlied@rogers.com Landscape Ontario Rep: Denis Flanagan – dflanagan@landscapeontario.com
Master Gardeners of Ontario Spring 2010 Page 3 Growing with Clay Tony Rudd London/Middlesex My Dad’s vegetable plot was heavy clay. It was difficult digging in the winter and in summer it dried bone hard. It occupied his mind constantly as to how he was going to overcome it. When he finally gave up the plot after 20 years, it was not much better than when he had started. Yet year after year we had a plentiful supply of fresh fruit and vegetables. Clay is an omnibus term for soils with very fine particle sizes. They come in a number of colours red, blue, yellow and white for instance. Some clays are sticky, some slippery. Others form deep cracks when dry. All clays can be a problem for the home vegetable gardener. Because they are of fine particle size, they hold water and do not drain easily. There is usually a later start in the spring while the soil dries down. Conversely, in the later stages of a drought, clay soils hang on to water and plants have to exert enormous pressure to be able to extract water from drying clay soils. As well as holding water, clay soils hold on to plant nutrients. If you can once overcome the drawbacks of clay soils, you will have a very fertile and productive garden. Organic matter is a remedy for many soil problems, including clay. As vegetable matter decomposes in soil it releases substances that form aggregates with the clay particles. This opens up more and bigger spaces in the soil allowing freer movement of air and water. This allows better drainage and encourages root growth. Particles of organic matter lodge between soil particles and Continued on page 4 Mystery Plant Do you know this plant? The answer will be revealed next issue. Contact editors@mgoi.ca with your guess. The mystery plant was a mushroom called dog stinkhorn Mutinus caninus. Yes we know it's not a plant but we could not resist using something this strange. Thanks to Diane Vaughan for the suggestion. Catherine Kavassalis, Oakville was first, honorable mention to Elizabeth Stewart, Toronto, Janet Trezise. LSSMG, Lois Bennett – Tweed/Quinte, Erika North – Thunder Bay. MGs in Action Toronto Master Gardeners and TBG Launch New Urban Vegetable Gardening Programme The Toronto Master Gardeners have partnered with the Toronto Botanical Garden to develop a new programme to address the challenges faced by both land and balcony city food growers. Sponsored by the McLean foundation, the series of five weekend workshops will take new gardeners through all the stages of successful and sustainable gardening, from initial planning to harvesting and preparing for the next growing season. Suitable for those with small balconies as well as those with large properties, each class will have both outdoor and indoor components and each student will leave with a container planted with seasonally appropriate vegetables. Topics include: Veggies in the City: Getting Back to Basics, Getting Started: Spring Crops and Veggie Garden Designs, Tending Your Plot – Summer Crops and Growing Techniques, The Harvest: Enjoying the Fruits of Your Labour, Planning for Next Year: Storing, Seed Saving and Overwintering. Interested gardeners may register for individual classes or for sets of 3 or 5 at discounted rates. More information is available at www.torontobotanicalgarden.ca. Garden Design in Guelph "Digging In – Well, Well" – Guelph &Wellington County MG have committed to working with the City of Guelph on designing and planting a garden on one of the city's "Well Houses" properties. The City is interested in saving on lawn care and showing citizens garden alternatives. It is just a beginning, but has the potential of turning into a demonstration garden and of also beautifying our community! Seedy Saturday in London
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Spring 2010 - Master Gardeners of Ontario

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